Eminem Says He Had To 'Relearn' How To Rap After Drug Overdose

By Hayden Brooks

January 5, 2021

Eminem has come clean about the impact of his near-fatal overdose in 2007.

During a recent interview, the rap titan spoke about a leaked track from over a decade ago, where he sides with Chris Brown over his highly-publicized assault of Rihanna, detailing that he was going through a difficult time after the 2007 overdose.

"I have zero recollection of even remembering doing that verse," the rapper confessed during an interview. "Like the rhyme schemes didn’t even sound like familiar to me. So I was caught off-guard too. I was like, 'What the f**k, I said that?' That was during early stages of the Relapse record that I was working on."

If you haven't heard the track, it hears Em spit, "Of course I side with Chris Brown, I’d beat a bitch down too," on an unreleased version of B.o.B.'s "Things Get Worse," which was left off his 2009 LP, Relapse. He went on to apologize to the pop titan on a track called "Zeus" featured on his new album, Music to Be Murdered By — Side B.

Slim Shady went on to share some more context about the record, admitting that he had to relearn his craft because of his drug usage. "It's 10-plus years old, but not making excuses for it. I said it and I was wrong for saying that," he continued. "It was fu**ing stupid. You know, a lot of times, especially with the Relapse record, when I first started learning how to rap again, because of the drug situation that I went through and having to relearn a lot of things, that was one of those things that it was like, 'Well, if it rhymes, say it.'"

Ultimately, though, Eminem looks back at the lyrics as unintentional and regretful. "I think that being able to look back, I mean, that’s not even an excuse, but I’m just saying like that there was a phase I was going through with that Relapse record,” he explained. “I don’t know. It was one of those things. I think I just said it cause it rhymed. And I think I’m sure looking back now, I should have thought better of it.”

Photo: Getty Images

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